HOW To Get OUT Of A Meeting & Keep A"Team Player" Image!

posted by Scotty Mac -

Apr 19, 2017

We've all been this setting, thinking, "when is this meeting going to be OVER?!?" When you are FINALLY able to leave and hour and a half later, you are forced to play work catch-up with the time you lost in the conference room. The meeting cycle continues, an there's not too much you can do about it. Or is there?? Take a look at this very cool insight courtesy of Entrepreneur.

When you give an excuse for missing a meeting, the value of your excuse must be equal to or greater than the value of the meeting you’re missing. But you have to use the prism of the person who invited you to the meeting. You have to guess at what they think is important. It’s not enough to say, “I’m going to do this thing instead of your thing because this thing is really important.” You have to say, “I’m going to do this thing instead of your thing because it’s important for both of us that I do this other thing.” Getting out of a meeting is about placing your flakery in context -- and the context is always "The Company."

The key is candor, says Kurt Taylor, founder and CEO of Wilmington, N.C.-based Next Glass, which analyzes the compounds in beer and wine to match taste buds to flavor profiles. “Sure, they might find it a little strange that you didn’t come up with some white lie to kind of shield their feelings, but that’s a very short-term view of looking at it.”

Bailing out the right way involves asking for a blessing. You’re not just telling people what you think is important. You’re asking them to understand it. You’re not asking for permission, but you are asking for approval.